Through a motion submitted by Coun. Sheena Hughes, St. Albert city council is providing a small sponsorship next year to an Alberta-based skills training program, Women Building Futures.
Women Building Futures is a registered charity that offers programming for women to earn certifications needed to begin careers in the trades. Programs include the 17-week Journeywoman Start course which provides students with carpentry, welding, electrical, and plumbing training, as well as first aid and job-site safety certifications.
Other programs include Class 3 driving certification for the operation of snowplows and hydrovac vehicles; a "construction bootcamp"; pre-apprenticeship training to become a heavy equipment technician, and more.
Although council can't entirely control how Women Building Futures uses the $2,500, Hughes told The Gazette that the donation is intended to provide financial support for a student while they complete a course.
"The thing that I love about the sponsorship of this is that it takes a family and changes their future," Hughes said. "It changes the ability for them to control their future."
"It gives these women the ability to learn a trade and take themselves out of a poverty-level income and into a situation where you can actually have a comfortable life," Hughes said.
The donation, which council approved during a budget deliberation meeting on Nov. 29, will be funded through council's sponsorship fund. Council recently used $1,000 from the fund to sponsor a Christmas tree for the St. Albert Hospice Association's annual "Lighting the Way" fundraiser.
Hughes said her motion to sponsor Women Building Futures is not new, as it was something initially created by the previous council. Although she didn't remember the exact years, Hughes said she believes council had given a similar amount to the program in 2016 and 2017.
"We did this for two or three years in the past and then we didn't and ... I thought, 'you know what, this is just something we should bring up for discussion,'" Hughes said.
To apply for a Women Building Futures course, hopeful students require up-to-date resumes and high school transcripts, and future students will also need to go through an interview process, according to the program's website.
There is no tuition fee for any of the courses, and Women Building Futures also offers financial aid for eligible students to help them complete a program.
Trying something different
This past spring, off-and-on St. Albert resident Katie Ogle recently completed the Women Building Futures' Journeywoman Start program, which she said she applied for because it was time for a change in her life.
"The people that put that on – they're actually really there for you as a person not only to help you get into a career but also to help you in your personal life as well," Ogle said of her experience in the program.
"I was struggling with personal stuff [I was] going through, and then when I was there they had my back 110 per cent."
While she was in the program welding and electrical work captured her interest, but she was happy to learn about everything, Ogle said.
After finishing the program, Ogle got a job with Terracon, an engineering and consulting company where she worked with soil and concrete.
"Not quite anything that we did in the Journeywomen Start program, but that's how I got that job," Ogle explained.
Prior to enrolling in Women Building Futures, Ogle said she was serving and bartending, and operated a dog grooming business as well.
Ogle didn't hesitate in recommending the program to others.
"Even if you aren't sure if it's going to help you out or anything, just go and do it," she said. "It's only going to benefit you."
